Adil Hussain to play an intelligence officer

When actor Adil Hussain was invited by director Renjith Lal to act in his Malayalam film, he refused outright initially. No way could he speak Malayalam, said the actor, known for his roles in Life of Pi and English Vinglish. Renjith persisted, and finally sent him the English script of his film, Naval Enna Jewel.
“You can reject the film, but only after reading the script, I said.Within a week, I got a call from Adil, saying he was ready to take it up,” says Renjith. And it has been the best decision ever, says Adil. “I was attracted by the subject, which is something relevant, important and needs to be told again and again. The world needs to know about what’s going on in terms of oppression of women, regardless of time, space and country. I wanted to be part of such a story,” he says.
And the person who helped him get over his fear of Malayalam was his co-star and the lead actor of the film, Iraqi American artiste Reem Kadem, he says. “My character is not a Malayali and so broken Malayalam was acceptable. But it was Reem who gave me the strength and confidence to accept the film. If she can speak in the language, why can’t I, she asked. I really got inspired by her encouragement.” Adil plays an intelligence officer in the film, a role which is pivotal to the story. “I don’t have a screen time as long as that of the others, but my character is instrumental in setting off the story,” he says.
But then, for Adil, the length of the character has never been the criterion for picking a movie. “I love roles of substance and I don’t look at their length. I started doing films late in my life. I wanted to get familiar with this very dangerous instrument called the camera, which is extremely non-judgemental or judgemental (laughs).
To get a hang of it I have been taking up interesting roles, experimenting with them. And I’ve been lucky to get good roles as well.” Adil has done a good number of lead roles but all in independent films, which never released in India. “I have done 42 films since 2003, and most of them have released in art house cinemas in America or Europe. The Indian market is yet to appreciate something which is finer and deeper, and we are still into typical commercial movies.”
Although Adil has never acted in a South Indian movie earlier, he has a connect with Kerala. “I have lived in Cheruthuruthi for six months in 1995, to learn Kathakali. I had to learn Kathakali for a performance in Netherlands with a Dutch group. I had come down here in 2003 again and spent six months with a friend of mine. I was doing a TV series, which I was sick and tired of, and wanted a break.” Coming up for the actor is Rajinikanth starrer 2.0 and John Abraham’s Force 2. He is also looking forward to the release of Parched and Sunrise.